Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) will have to use an online fingerprint ID system for new prepaid and postpaid mobile SIM card registrations by March without exception, says the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

An MVNO is a company that provides mobile service but does not have its own mobile network. MVNOs have called on the regulator over the past several months to exempt them from the rule, saying the system will impose additional cost burdens on them and make it difficult for them to compete with major mobile operators.

All mobile operators will have to introduce the online fingerprint ID system by March, but mobile users can choose whether or not to put their fingerprints in the system for their own security.

"Any violation will face penalties ranging from a fine, to a ban on receiving new mobile numbers from the regulator, to a licence revocation," said NBTC secretary-general Mr Takorn.

Mr Takorn urged all mobile users to participate in the fingerprint system to ensure greater security in mobile banking and prevent the risk of fraud, which is likely to increase in a cashless society.

He insisted that the fingerprint system will complement the existing registration system. The regulator will not force all mobile users to register with the new system.

Thailand has 103 million mobile subscribers, 14 million of whom use mobile banking services.

"Fingerprint ID mandatory"
"Mobile users can choose whether or not to put their finger prints in the system"
"Any violation will face penalties"
"The regulator will not force mobile users to register with the new system"

All mobile users must participate in the online fingerprint ID system for new prepaid and postpaid mobile SIM card registration, or they will not be allowed to use mobile service.

The automated fingerprint registration system, implemented by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), is set to start from Jan 1, 2018, said secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.

Earlier, the NBTC had conducted fingerprint registration on a voluntary basis.

The regulator unveiled the first fingerprint ID machine to the media Thursday, with a plan to launch the first batch of 30 machines on May 31.

Mr Takorn said 25 of those machines will be installed in three provinces in the deep South: Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

The fingerprint ID system is aimed at creating greater security and benefits for mobile users, especially mobile banking service.

He said the number of fingerprint registration machines will be delivered to mobile operators nationwide, with 30,000 machines targeted by year-end.

"From Jan 1, all mobile users must participate in the system if they want access to mobile network service," he said.

Through a fingerprint enrolment process, mobile operators will scan each person's fingerprints, which will stored on the national ID card database and the NBTC's secure database.

The fingerprint machine will cost mobile operators 8,000 baht per unit for installation. The machine will be capable of connecting civil registration data through the server of the Department of Provincial Administration.

Mr Takorn said the fingerprint system would not create a financial burden on mobile operators because the investment can be deducted as a business expense from the universal service obligation fee that operators pay annually to the NBTC.

Online fingerprint ID registration will take less than two minutes, he said.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC is focusing on the three southern provinces in order to protect against bombings triggered via mobile phone signals.

Mr Takorn said all mobile users who have registered via the existing registration system in the three southern provinces have to register again with the online fingerprint ID system by October.

Those who failed to comply with the rule face a mobile signal cut-off.
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As usual the report is ambiguous. In one place it states all NEW sims, and in another place ALL sims.
Either way it is just another imposition on peoples rights. And what about Farangs and others that are not on the National ID database?

May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!

The new rules require new purchasers to either have their fingerprints verified OR their faces scanned, but "foreigners buying SIM cards in Thailand will have their faces scanned and matched against their passport photographs".

"From Dec 15, people will be required to register new SIM cards, both pre-paid and post-paid, at service centres and retailers across the country, which will be equipped with biometric tools."

Existing users of SIM cards will be unaffected. Not sure what will happen if your existing SIM card gets damaged and you have to get a replacement, it's not a new SIM card, I guess.

I don't have any objection anyway, take my prints and my pic, they have it all anyway. Older people seem to have a much more paranoid attitude to data collection than the young (I must be an exception) who have grown up with a the consequences of society having greater need to protect itself.

Last edited by PeteC on Wed Nov 08, 2017 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:Change title as it is published